Before
1782, the responsibilities of the two
Secretaries of State were not divided up in terms of area of authority, but rather geographically. The
Secretary of State for the Northern Department, the more junior of the two, was responsible for Northern England, Scotland, and relations with the Protestant states of Northern Europe.
- Sir William Morrice 1660-1668
- Sir John Trevor 1668-1672
- Henry Coventry 1672-1674
- Sir Joseph Williamson 1674-1679
- Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland[?] 1679 - 1680
- Sir Leoline Jenkins 1680 - 1681
- Edward Conway, Earl of Conway 1681 - 1684
- Sidney Godolphin, 1st Lord Godolphin[?] 1684
- Charles Middleton, Earl of Middleton 1684 - 1688
- Richard Graham, Viscount Preston 1688
- Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham 1689 - 1690
- Henry Sydney, Viscount Sydney of Sheppey 1690 - 1692
- Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham 1692 - 1693
- Sir John Trenchard 1693 - 1694
- Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury[?] 1694 - 1695
- Sir William Trumbull 1695 - 1697
- James Vernon 1697 - 1700
- Sir Charles Hedges 1700 - 1701
- James Vernon 1702
- Sir Charles Hedges 1702 - 1704
- Robert Harley[?] 1704 - 1708
- Henry Boyle 1708 - 1710
- Henry St. John[?], 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1712) 1710 - 1713
- William Bromley 1713 - 1714
- Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend[?] 1714 - 1716
- James Stanhope[?] 1716 - 1717
- Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland[?] 1717 - 1718
- James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope[?] 1718 - 1721
- Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend[?] 1721 - 1730
- William Stanhope, Lord Harrington 1730 - 1742
- John Carteret, Lord Carteret 1742 - 1744
- William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington 1744 - 1746
- Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield[?] 1746 - 1748
- Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle[?] 1748 - 1754
- Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holdernesse[?] 1754 - 1761
- John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute 1761 - 1762
- George Grenville 1762
- George Montague-Dunk, Earl of Halifax 1762 - 1763
- John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich 1763 - 1765
- Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton[?] 1765 - 1766
- Henry Seymour Conway[?] 1766 - 1768
- Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth 1768
- William Nassau de Zuylestein, Earl of Rochford 1768 - 1770
- John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich 1770 - 1771
- George Montague-Dunk, Earl of Halifax 1771
- Henry Howard, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire 1771 - 1779
- Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth 1779
- David Murray, Viscount Stormont 1779 - 1782